Melon variety nun 21267 mem

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the field of  Cucumis melo , in particular to a new variety of melon designated NUN 21267 MEM as well as plants, seeds and melon fruits thereof.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and, morespecifically, to the development of melon variety NUN 21267 MEM, alsoreferred to as “NUN 21267”, “NUN 21267 F1”, “NUN 21267 hybrid”, “21267MEM” or “Silverock” and parts thereof and seeds from which the varietycan be grown. The invention further relates to vegetative reproductionsof NUN 21267 MEM, methods for in vitro tissue culture of NUN 21267 MEMexplants and also to phenotypic variants of NUN 21267 MEM. The inventionfurther relates to methods of producing fruits of NUN 21267 MEM or ofphenotypic variants of NUN 21267 MEM.

The goal of vegetable breeding is to combine various desirable traits ina single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits may include greateryield, resistance to insects or pests, tolerance to heat and drought,desired earliness, seedless fruits, better agronomic quality, highernutritional value, growth rate and fruit properties.

Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination.There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates ifpollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower ofthe same plant or plant variety. A plant cross-pollinates if pollencomes to it from a flower of a different plant variety.

Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over manygenerations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce auniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A crossbetween two such homozygous plants of different varieties produces auniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many geneloci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number ofloci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically andare not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performanceunpredictable.

The development of uniform varieties requires the development ofhomozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and theevaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection areexamples of breeding methods that have been used to develop inbredplants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine thegenetic backgrounds from two or more plants or various other broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which new lines are developed byselfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new lines are evaluatedto determine which of those have commercial potential.

One crop species which has been subject to such breeding programs and isof particular value is the melon. It is a member of the Cucurbitaceafamily. The genus Cucumis melo originated in Africa. The plant is alarge and sprawling annual, grown for its fruit. The fruit of mostspecies of Cucumis melo is often coloured attractively, commonly red.Melon can contain black seeds, which are considered undesirable forcertain uses.

Many different melon cultivars have been produced, and melon breedingefforts have been underway in many parts of the world. Some breedingobjectives include varying the color, texture and flavor of the fruit,and absence of seeds. Other objectives include disease or pestresistance, optimizing flesh thickness, yield, suitability to variousclimatic circumstances, solid content (% dry matter), and sugar content.

Honeydew melons are part of the muskmelon cultivar group. They have asmooth rind, yellowish in color. They are usually mid-sized with ovalshape. Honeydew grows best in semi-arid climates, and is grown andconsumed all over the world. The flesh is thick, juicy and sweet, andcan be green, white, cream, pale yellow or pale orange, and is verypopular for use in desserts.

The new variety is a Honeydew type (Cucumis melo inodorous). It has asparsely netted, yellow colored rind with pale yellow and green fruitflesh at edible maturity. NUN 21267 MEM has heavy fruits, with much highrefractometer % of soluable solids and firmness. Fruit shape of NUN21267 is oval. Provided are seeds of NUN 21267 MEM, plants and plantparts produced from these seeds such as harvested fruit or partsthereof, pollen, cells, leaves or parts thereof, petioles, shoots orparts thereof, stems or parts thereof, roots or parts thereof, cuttingsor parts thereof, flowers, vegetative reproductions of the variety NUN21267 MEM, and progeny of the variety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the invention, a seed of melon variety NUN 21267 MEM isprovided, wherein a representative sample of said seed has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB ______.

In another aspect the invention provides for a hybrid variety of Cucumismelo called NUN 21267 MEM. The invention also provides for a pluralityof seeds of the new variety, plants produced from growing the seeds ofthe new variety NUN 21267 MEM, and progeny of any of these. Especially,progeny retaining one or more (or all) of the “distinguishingcharacteristics” or one or more (or all) of the “essential morphologicaland physiological characteristics” or essentially all physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM referred to herein, areencompassed herein as well as methods for producing these.

In one aspect, such progeny have all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of melon variety NUN 21267 MEM when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions. In another aspect such progeny have all thephysiological and morphological characteristics as listed in Table 1 asmelon variety NUN 21267 MEM when measured under the same environmentalconditions (i.e. evaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5% or 10%significance, which can also be expressed as a p value).

In another aspect a plant of the invention or said progeny plantshas/have 1, 2, 3, 4 or more or all of the distinguishing characteristicsselected from the group consisting of: 1) an average mature fruitdiameter of about 16 cm, e.g. 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 cm; 2) an averagemature fruit weight of about 2873 g e.g. 2850, 2860, 2870, 2880 or 2890gram; 3) an average maturity from seeding to harvest of about 88 dayse.g. 86, 87, 88, 89 or 90 days from seeding; 4) an average mature fruitrefractometer % soluble solids (center of flesh) of about 13.4 e.g. 11,12, 13, 14, 15 or 16; 5) an average number of about 700 seeds per maturefruit e.g. about 670, 680, 690, 700, 710, 720, or 730 seeds; 6) anaverage weight per 1000 seeds of 39 g, e.g. 37, 38, 39, 40 or 41 gram;7) an average rind thickness at medial of about 1.65 mm. e.g. 1.50,1.60, 1.65, 1.70 or 1.80 mm; 8) sparse presence of rind net; 9) anaverage mature fruit length of about 19 cm, e.g. 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21cm; and 10) an average fruit firmness of about 3.7 pound force, e.g.3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0 or 4.1 pound force. In anotheraspect a plant of the invention has in addition to the 1, 2, 3, 4 ormore or all of the above-cited distinguishing characteristics, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, or more, or all of the other (average) characteristics aslisted in Table 1.

Further, a melon fruit produced on a plant grown from these seeds isprovided.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, a plant having one, two orthree physiological and/or morphological characteristics which aredifferent from those of NUN 21267 MEM and which otherwise has all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM aslisted in Table 1, wherein a representative sample of seed of varietyNUN 21267 MEM has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB ______, isprovided.

Further, a vegetatively propagated plant of variety NUN 21267 MEM, or apart thereof, is provided having all the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 21267 MEM when grown under the same environmentalconditions.

Also a plant part derived from variety NUN 21267 MEM is provided,wherein said plant part is selected from the group consisting of: fruit,harvested fruit, parts of fruits, leaf, pollen, ovule, cell, part of aleaf, petioles, shoots or parts thereof, stems or parts thereof, vinesor parts thereof, roots or parts thereof, cuttings, seeds, hypocotyl,cotyledon, flowers or parts thereof, scion, cion, stock, rootstock andflower. Fruits are particularly important plant parts.

DEFINITIONS

“Melon” or “muskmelon” refers herein to plants of the species Cucumismelo, and fruits thereof.

“Cultivated melon” refers to plants of Cucumis melo i.e. varieties,breeding lines or cultivars of the species C. melo as well as crossbredsthereof, or crossbreds with other Cucumis melo species, or even withother Cucurbitacea species, cultivated by humans and having goodagronomic characteristics; preferably such plants are not “wild plants”,i.e. plants which generally have much poorer yields and poorer agronomiccharacteristics than cultivated plants and e.g. grow naturally in wildpopulations. “Wild plants” include for example ecotypes, PI (PlantIntroduction) lines, landraces or wild accessions or wild relatives ofCucumis melo and related species.

“Netted” skin or rind refers to the presence of reticulate markingscalled ‘netting’ on the skin. “Non-netted” or “absence of netting”refers to the fruits lacking such netting. “Ribbed” refers to groovesand raised parts, running approximately straight and parallel from(near) blossom end to (near) abscission end that are called ‘ribs’.“Non-ribbed” or “absence of ribbing” refers to the fruits lacking suchribs.

Refractometer % of soluble solids is the percentage of soluble solids infruit juice, as defined by the USDA. It is also expressed as °Brix andindicates sweetness. The majority of soluble solids in melon are mainlysugars present in the fruits of melon. Hence the correlation withsweetness. Brix can be measured using a Brix meter (also known asRefractometer).

“Uniform throughout the fruit” or “uniform throughout the rind” refersto a characteristics such as color or absence of netting being identicalthroughout the entire fruit (e.g. throughout the fruit flesh when thefruit is cut in half) or rind.

The terms “melon plant designated NUN 21267 MEM”, “NUN 26357” “26357MEM” or “variety designated NUN 26357” are used interchangeably hereinand refer to a melon plant of variety NUN 21267 MEM, representative seedof which having been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB ______.

“Tissue culture” refers to a composition comprising isolated cells ofthe same or a different type or a collection of such cells organizedinto parts of a plant. Tissue culture of various tissues of melon andregeneration of plants therefrom is well known and widely published(see, e.g., Ren et al., In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol.-Plant (2013)49:223-229; Colijn-Hooymans (1994), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture39: 211-217). Similarly, the skilled person is well-aware how to preparea “cell culture”.

“UPOV descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors described for melonin the “Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness, Uniformityand Stability, TG104/5 (Geneva, as last revised in 2014), as publishedby UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties andPlants, available on the world wide web at upov.int) and which can bedownloaded from the world wide web at upov.int/underedocs/tgdocs/en/tg104.pdf and is herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

“USDA descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors for melon (Cucumismelo) in the form titled “OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION OFVARIETY—Muskmelon/Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L.)” as published by the USDepartment of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Plant VarietyProtection Office, Beltsville, MD 20705 and which can be downloaded fromthe world wide web atams.usda.gov/underAMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3003780.

“RHS” refers to the Royal Horticultural Society of England whichpublishes an official botanical color chart quantitatively identifyingcolors according to a defined numbering system. The chart may bepurchased from Royal Horticulture Society Enterprise Ltd RHS Garden;Wisley, Woking; Surrey GU236QB, UK, e.g., the RHS colour chart: 2007(The Royal Horticultural Society, charity No: 222879, PO Box 313 LondonSW1P2PE; sold by, e.g., TORSO-VERLAG, Obere Grüben 8, D-97877 Wertheim,Article-No.: Art62-00008 EAN-Nr.: 4250193402112).

As used herein, the term “plant” includes the whole plant or any partsor derivatives thereof, preferably having the same genetic makeup as theplant from which it is obtained, such as plant organs (e.g. harvested ornon-harvested fruits), plant cells, plant protoplasts, plant cell tissuecultures or tissue cultures from which whole plants can be regenerated,plant calli, plant cell clumps, plant transplants, seedlings, hypocotyl,cotyledon, plant cells that are intact in plants, plant clones ormicropropagations, or parts of plants (e.g. harvested tissues ororgans), such as plant cuttings, vegetative propagations, embryos,pollen, ovules, fruits, flowers, leaves, seeds, clonally propagatedplants, roots, stems, vines, root tips, grafts, scions, rootstocks,parts of any of these and the like. Also any developmental stage isincluded, such as seedlings, cuttings prior or after rooting, matureplants or leaves.

“Harvested plant material” refers herein to plant parts (e.g. fruitsdetached from the whole plant) which have been collected for furtherstorage and/or further use.

“Harvested seeds” refers to seeds harvested from a line or variety, e.g.produced after self-fertilization or cross-fertilization and collected.

“Internode” refers to a portion of a plant stem or vine between nodes.

“Node” refers to the place on a plant stem or vine where a leaf isattached.

A plant having “all the physiological and morphological characteristics”of a referred-to-plant means a plant having the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the referred-to-plant when grown underthe same environmental conditions; the referred-to-plant can be a plantfrom which it was derived, e.g. the progenitor plant, the parent, therecurrent parent, the plant used for tissue- or cell culture, etc.

A plant having “essentially all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics” of a referred-to-plant means a plant having at least 5(e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9 or all) of the distinguishing physiological andmorphological characteristics (distinguishing characteristics as hereindefined) when grown under the same environmental conditions of thereferred-to-plant (e.g. a plant from which it was derived such as theprogenitor plant, the parent, the recurrent parent, the plant used fortissue- or cell culture, etc.). Alternatively, a plant having“essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics” ofa referred-to-plant means a plant having all the characteristics aslisted in Table 1 when grown under the same environmental conditions asa referred-to-plant (e.g. a plant from which it was derived such as theprogenitor plant, the parent, the recurrent parent, the plant used fortissue- or cell culture, etc.). In another embodiment, a plant having“essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics” ofa referred-to-plant means a plant having all but 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 of thecharacteristics as listed in Table 1 when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions as a referred-to-plant (e.g. a plant from whichit was derived such as the progenitor plant, the parent, the recurrentparent, the plant used for tissue- or cell culture, etc.).

For NUN 21267 MEM the distinguishing characteristics are 1) averagemature fruit diameter; 2) average mature fruit weight; 3) average numberof days to maturity from seeding to harvest; 4) average mature fruitrefractometer % soluble solids (center of flesh); 5) average number ofseeds per mature fruit; 6) average weight per 1000 seeds; 7) rindthickness at medial; 8) presence of rind net; 9) average mature fruitlength and 10) average fruit firmness.

In certain embodiments the plant of the invention has all thephysiological and morphological characteristics, except for certaincharacteristics mentioned, e.g. the characteristic(s) derived from aconverted or introduced gene or trait and/or except for thecharacteristics which differ.

Similarity between different plants is defined as the number ofdistinguishing characteristics (or the characteristics as listed inTable 1) that are the same between the two plants that are compared whengrown under the same environmental conditions. Characteristics areconsidered “the same” when the value for a numeric characteristic isevaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5% or 10% significance level, orwhen a non-numeric characteristic is identical, if the plants are grownunder the same conditions.

A plant having one or more “essential physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics” or one or more “distinguishing characteristics” refersto a plant having (or retaining) one or more of the characteristicsmentioned in Table 1 when grown under the same environmental conditionsthat distinguish NUN 21267 MEM from the most similar varieties (such asvariety Santa Fe), such as but not limited to average number of fruitsper plant, fruit flavor and texture, maturity, average flower diameteror average vine length.

“Distinguishing characteristics” or “distinguishing morphological and/orphysiological characteristics” refers herein the characteristics whichare distinguishing between NUN 21267 MEM and other melon varieties, suchas Santa Fe, when grown under the same environmental conditions,especially the following characteristics 1) an average mature fruitdiameter of about 15.9 cm (e.g. between 15.9−5% and 15.9+5%); 2) anaverage mature fruit weight of about 2873 gram (e.g. between 2873−5% and2873+5%); 3) an average maturity from seeding to harvest of 88 days fromseeding (e.g. between 88−5% and 88+5%); 4) an average mature fruitrefractometer % soluble solids (center of flesh) of about 13.4 (e.g.between 13.4−5% and 13.4+5%); 5) an average of about 700 seeds permature fruit (e.g. between 700−5% and 700+5%); 6) an average weight per1000 seeds of about 39 gram (e.g. between 39−5% and 39+5%); 7) a rindthickness at medial of about 1.65 mm (e.g. between 1.65−5% and 1.65+5%);8) sparse presence of rind net; 9)) an average mature fruit length ofabout 19 cm (e.g. between 19−5% and 19+5%) and 10) an average fruitfirmness of about 3.7 pound force (e.g. between 3.7−5% or 3.7+5%). Inone aspect, the distinguishing characteristics further include at leastone, two, three or more (or all) of the characteristics listed inTable 1. All numerical distinguishing characteristics are statisticallysignificantly different at p≦0.05.

Thus, a melon plant “comprising the distinguishing characteristics ofNUN 21267 MEM” refers herein to a melon plant which does not differsignificantly from NUN 21267 MEM in characteristics 1) to 5) above. In afurther aspect the melon plant further does not differ significantlyfrom NUN 21267 MEM in one or more, or all characteristics 6) to 10) asmentioned above. In yet a further aspect the melon plant further doesnot differ in at least one, two, three, four, five or six (or all)characteristics selected from the characteristics listed in Table 1. Instill another aspect the melon plant does not differ in any of thedistinguishing characteristics 1) to 10) listed above.

The physiological and/or morphological characteristics mentioned aboveare commonly evaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5% or 10% if theyare numerical, or for identical type if not numerical, when measuredunder the same environmental conditions. For example, a progeny plant ofNUN 21267 MEM may have one or more (or all) of the essentialphysiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEMlisted in Table 1, as determined at the 5% significance level (i.e.p≦0.05) when grown under the same environmental conditions.

As used herein, the term “variety” or “cultivar” means a plant groupingwithin a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, whichgrouping, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of abreeder's right are fully met, can be defined by the expression of thecharacteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination ofgenotypes, distinguished from any other plant grouping by the expressionof at least one of the said characteristics and considered as a unitwith regard to its suitability for being propagated unchanged.

“Plant line” is for example a breeding line which can be used to developone or more varieties. Progeny obtained by selfing a plant line has thesame phenotype as its parents.

“Hybrid variety” or “F1 hybrid” refers to the seeds harvested fromcrossing two inbred (nearly homozygous) parental lines. For example, thefemale parent is pollinated with pollen of the male parent to producehybrid (F1) seeds on the female parent.

“Regeneration” refers to the development of a plant from cell culture ortissue culture or vegetative propagation.

“Vegetative propagation”, “vegetative reproduction” or “clonalpropagation” are used interchangeably herein and mean the method oftaking part of a plant and allowing that plant part to form at leastroots where plant part is, e.g., defined as or derived from (e.g. bycutting of) leaf, pollen, embryo, cotyledon, hypocotyl, cells,protoplasts, meristematic cell, root, root tip, pistil, anther, flower,shoot tip, shoot, stem, vines, fruit, petiole, etc. When a whole plantis regenerated by vegetative propagation, it is also referred to as avegetative propagation.

“Planting” or “planted” refers to seeding (direct sowing) ortransplanting seedlings (plantlets) into a field by machine or hand.

“Yield” means the total weight of all melon fruits harvested per hectareof a particular line or variety. It is understood that “yield” expressedas weight of all melon fruits harvested per hectare can be obtained bymultiplying the number of plants per hectare times the “yield perplant”.

“Marketable yield” means the total weight of all marketable melon fruitsharvested per hectare of a particular line or variety, i.e. fruitssuitable for being sold for fresh consumption, having good flavor (nooff-flavors), acceptable brix (or Total Soluble Solids, TSS, asdetermined using a refractometer) and flesh color properties and no orvery low levels of deficiencies.

“Selfing” refers to self-pollination of a plant, i.e., the transfer ofpollen from the anther to the stigma of the same plant. “Crossing”refers to the mating of two parent plants.

“Average” refers herein to the arithmetic mean.

“Substantially equivalent” refers to a characteristic that, whencompared, does not show a statistically significant difference (e.g.,p=0.05) from the mean. ANOVA is a suitable method for determining thevalue of p.

“Locus” (plural loci) refers to the specific location of a gene or DNAsequence on a chromosome. A locus may confer a specific trait.

“Allele” refers to one or more alternative forms of a gene locus. All ofthese loci relate to one trait. Sometimes, different alleles can resultin different observable phenotypic traits, such as differentpigmentation. However, many variations at the genetic level result inlittle or no observable variation. If a multicellular organism has twosets of chromosomes, i.e. diploid, these chromosomes are referred to ashomologous chromosomes. Diploid organisms have one copy of each gene(and therefore one allele) on each chromosome. If both alleles are thesame, they are homozygotes. If the alleles are different, they areheterozygotes.

“Genotype” refers to the genetic composition of a cell or organism.

“Maturity” refers to the fruit developmental stage when the fruit hasfully developed (reached its final size), begins to ripen and undergoesripening, during which fruits can be divided into 1, 2, 3 or morematurity stages. Thereafter, fruits become overripe. In particularembodiments “maturity” is defined as the mature stage of fruitdevelopment and optimal time for harvest. In one embodiment a “mature”melon is defined as having reached the stage of maturity which willinsure the proper completion of the normal ripening process. Inparticular embodiments, fruit should be harvested at a maturity stagei.e. substantially near maximum sweetness and flavor intensity.

“Harvest maturity” is referred to as the stage at which a melon fruit isripe or ready for harvest or the optimal time to harvest the fruit. Inone embodiment, harvest maturity is the stage which allows propercompletion of the normal ripening.

“Flavor” refers to the sensory impression of a food or other substance,especially a melon fruit or fruit part (fruit flesh) and is determinedmainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. Flavor is influencedby texture properties and by volatile and/or non-volatile chemicalcomponents (organic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, etc.).

“Aroma” refers to smell (or odor) characteristics of melon fruits orfruit parts (fruit flesh).

“Cavity” or “seed cavity” is the center of the fruit containing thematernal tissues and seeds.

The term “traditional breeding techniques” encompasses herein crossing,selfing, selection, double haploid production, embryo rescue, protoplastfusion, marker assisted selection, mutation breeding etc. as known tothe breeder (i.e. methods other than geneticmodification/transformation/transgenic methods), by which, for example,a genetically heritable trait can be transferred from one melon line orvariety to another.

“Backcrossing” is a traditional breeding technique used to introduce atrait into a plant line or variety. The plant containing the trait iscalled the donor plant and the plant into which the trait is transferredis called the recurrent parent. An initial cross is made between thedonor parent and the recurrent parent to produce progeny plants. Progenyplants which have the trait are then crossed to the recurrent parent.After several generations of backcrossing and/or selfing the recurrentparent comprises the trait of the donor. The plant generated in this waymay be referred to as a “single trait converted plant”.

“Progeny” as used herein refers to plants derived from a plantdesignated NUN 21267 MEM. Progeny may be derived by regeneration of cellculture or tissue culture or parts of a plant designated NUN 21267 MEMor selfing of a plant designated NUN 21267 MEM or by producing seeds ofa plant designated NUN 21267 MEM. In further embodiments, progeny mayalso encompass plants derived from crossing of at least one plantdesignated NUN 21267 MEM with another melon plant of the same or anothervariety or (breeding) line, or wild melon plants, backcrossing,inserting of a locus into a plant or mutation. A progeny is, e.g., afirst generation progeny, i.e. the progeny is directly derived from,obtained from, obtainable from or derivable from the parent plant by,e.g., traditional breeding methods (selfing and/or crossing) orregeneration. However, the term “progeny” generally encompasses furthergenerations such as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh or moregenerations, i.e., generations of plants which are derived from,obtained from, obtainable from or derivable from the former generationby, e.g., traditional breeding methods, regeneration or genetictransformation techniques. For example, a second generation progeny canbe produced from a first generation progeny by any of the methodsmentioned above.

The terms “gene converted” or “conversion plant” in this context referto melon plants which are developed by backcrossing wherein essentiallyall of the desired morphological and physiological characteristics ofparent are recovered in addition to the one or more genes transferredinto the parent via the backcrossing technique or via geneticengineering. Likewise a “Single Locus Converted (Conversion) Plant”refers to plants which are developed by plant breeding techniquescomprising or consisting of backcrossing, wherein essentially all of thedesired morphological and physiological characteristics of a melonvariety are recovered in addition to the characteristics of the singlelocus having been transferred into the variety via the backcrossingtechnique and/or by genetic transformation.

“Transgene” or “chimeric gene” refers to a genetic locus comprising aDNA sequence which has been introduced into the genome of a melon plantby transformation. A plant comprising a transgene stably integrated intoits genome is referred to as “transgenic plant”.

The term “mean” refers to the arithmetic mean of several measurements.The skilled person understands that the appearance of a plant depends tosome extent on the growing conditions of said plant. Thus, the skilledperson will know typical growing conditions for melons described herein.The mean, if not indicated otherwise within this application, refers tothe arithmetic mean of measurements on at least 10 different, randomlyselected plants of a variety or line.

“Substantially equivalent” refers to a characteristic that, whencompared, does not show a statistically significant difference (e.g.,p>0.05) from the mean.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a Cucumis melo variety, referred to asNUN 21267 MEM, which—when compared to check variety Santa Fe—has higheraverage mature fruit weight, higher average mature fruit length, higheraverage mature fruit diameter, longer average time from seeding tomaturity, higher average mature fruit rind thickness at medial, absenceof rind net, higher average number of seeds per mature fruit, higheraverage leaf width, higher average mature fruit seed cavity length andlower average mature fruit seed cavity width. Also encompassed by thepresent invention are progeny plants having all but 1, 2, or 3 of themorphological and/physiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM andmethods of producing plants in accordance with the present invention.

A melon plant of NUN 21267 MEM differs from the most similar comparisonvariety Santa Fe in one or more characteristics (referred herein to as“distinguishing characteristics” or “distinguishing morphological and/orphysiological characteristics” (or essential physiological and/ormorphological characteristics) selected from:

1) NUN 21267 MEM has average mature fruit diameter that is at least 5%,e.g. 7, 8, 9, 10% or even about 10.4% higher than Santa Fe;2) NUN 21267 MEM has an average mature fruit weight that is at least15%, e.g. 25, 35, 40, 43% or even about 45% higher than Santa Fe;3) NUN 21267 MEM has an average number of days to maturity from seedingto harvest that is at least 12%, e.g. 15, 18, 20, 22, 24, % or even 26%higher than Santa Fe;4) NUN 21267 MEM has an average mature fruit refractometer % solublesolids (center of flesh) that is at least 40%, e.g. 50, 80, 100, 110, %or even about 120% higher than Santa Fe;5) NUN 21267 MEM has an average number of seeds per mature fruit that isat least 5%, e.g. 6, 7, 7.5% or even about 8% lower than Santa Fe;6) NUN 21267 MEM has an average weight per 1000 seeds that is at least10%, e.g. 15, 20, 25, 28% or even about 30% higher than Santa Fe;7) NUN 21267 MEM has an rind thickness at medial that is at least 20%,e.g. 25, 35, 40, 45% or even about 48% higher than Santa Fe;8) NUN 21267 MEM sparse presence of rind net, whereas Santa Fe hasabsence of rind net;9) NUN 21267 MEM has average mature fruit length that is at least 3%,e.g. 4, 5, 5.4% or even about 5.6% higher than Santa Fe; and10) NUN 21267 MEM has an average fruit firmness that is at least 10%,e.g. 20, 25, 30, 35% or even about 40% lower than Santa Fe.

In another embodiment the plant of the invention is resistant to pestsand diseases. On a scale of 1 to 9, where 1 is absence of resistance and9 is highest resistance, NUN 21267 MEM has resistance to Fusariumoxysporum f.sp. melonis race 0 and race 2 that is 9 (resistancepresent). On a scale of 1 to 3, where 1 is absence of resistance and 3is highest resistance, NUN 21267 MEM has resistance to Powdery mildewthat is 2 (moderately resistant). On a scale of 1 to 3, where 1 isabsence of resistance and 3 is highest resistance, NUN 21267 MEM hasresistance to Sphaerotheca fuliginea race 0 and race 2 that is 2(moderately resistant).

It is understood that “significant” differences refer to statisticallysignificant differences, when comparing the characteristic between twoplant lines or varieties when grown under the same conditions.Preferably at least about 10, 15, 20 or more plants per line or varietyare grown under the same conditions (i.e. side by side) andcharacteristics are measured on at least about 10, 15, 20 or morerandomly selected plant or plant parts to obtain averages. Thus,physiological and morphological characteristics or traits are commonlyevaluated at a significance level of 1%, 5% or 10%, when measured inplants grown under the same environmental conditions.

Thus, in one aspect, the invention provides seeds of the melon varietydesignated NUN 21267 MEM wherein a representative sample of seeds ofsaid variety was deposited under the Budapest Treaty, with Accessionnumber NCIMB ______.

Seeds of NUN 21267 MEM are obtainable by crossing the male parent withthe female parent and harvesting the seeds produced on the femaleparent. The resultant NUN 21267 MEM seeds can be grown to produce NUN21267 MEM plants. In one embodiment a plurality of NUN 21267 MEM seedsare packaged into small and/or large containers (e.g., bags, cartons,cans, etc.). The seeds may be disinfected, primed and/or treated withvarious compounds, such as seed coatings or crop protection compounds.

Also provided are plants of melon variety NUN 21267 MEM, or a fruit orother plant part thereof, produced from seeds, wherein a representativesample of said seeds has been deposited under the Budapest Treaty, withAccession Number NCIMB ______. Also included is a cell culture or tissueculture produced from such a plant. It is understood that such tissue orcell culture comprising cells or protoplasts from the plant of theinvention can be obtained from a plant part selected from the groupconsisting of embryos, meristems, cotyledons, hypocotyl, pollen, leaves,anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, petiole, flower, fruit, seed, stemand stalks. In one embodiment a plant regenerated from such a cell ortissue culture said plant expressing all the morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM.

In one embodiment the invention provides a melon plant regenerated fromthe tissue or cell culture of NUN 21267 MEM, wherein the plant has allof the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEMas listed in Table 1 when determined at the 5% significance level. Inanother embodiment, the invention provides a melon plant regeneratedfrom the tissue or cell culture of NUN 21267 MEM, wherein the plant hasall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 21267MEM when determined at the 5% significance level.

Plants of NUN 21267 MEM can be produced by seeding directly in theground (e.g., field) or by germinating the seeds in controlledenvironment conditions (e.g., greenhouses) and then transplanting theseedlings into the field. For example, the seed can be sown intoprepared seed beds where they will remain for the entire production ofthe crop. Alternatively, the melon seed may be planted or transplantedin prepared mounds.

In another aspect, the invention provides for a melon plant of varietyNUN 21267 MEM, a representative sample of seed from said variety hasbeen deposited under the Budapest Treaty, with Accession number NCIMB______.

In other aspects, the invention provides for a fruit or parts thereof ofmelon variety NUN 21267 MEM, or a plant part, such as pollen, flowers,shoots or cuttings of variety NUN 21267 MEM or parts thereof.

In one embodiment any plant of the invention comprises at least 3, 4, 5or more, e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9 or all of the following morphological and/orphysiological characteristics (i.e. distinguishing characteristics(average values; measured at harvest or market maturity, as indicated onthe USDA Objective description of variety—Melon (unless indicatedotherwise), when grown under the same environmental conditions):

1) NUN 21267 MEM has an average mature fruit diameter of about 15.9 cme.g. between about 15 and about 17 cm or preferably between about 15.3and about 16.6 cm or between about 15.6 and 16.2 cm or even betweenabout 15.8 and 16.0 cm;2) NUN 21267 MEM has an average mature fruit weight of about 2873 grame.g. between about 2400 and about 3400 gram or preferably between about2600 and about 3100 gram or between about 2800 and 2900 gram or evenbetween about 2870 and 2880 gram;3) NUN 21267 MEM has an average number of days to maturity from seedingto harvest of about 88 days from seeding e.g. between 82 and 94 orbetween 86 and about 90 or preferably between 87 and 89;4) NUN 21267 MEM has an average mature fruit refractometer % solublesolids (center of flesh) of about 13.4 e.g. between 10 and 17 orpreferably between 11 and 16 or between 12 and 15 or even between 13 and14;5) NUN 21267 MEM has an average number of seeds per mature fruit matureof about 700 e.g. between 500 and 900 or preferably between 600 andabout 800 or between about 50 and 750 or even between about 680 and 720;6) NUN 21267 MEM has an average weight per 1000 seeds of about 39 gram,e.g. between 33 and 45 or preferably between 35 and 43 or between 37 and41 or even between 38 and 40 gram;7) NUN 21267 MEM has an average rind thickness at medial of about 1.65mm e.g. between 1.3 and 2.0 mm or preferably between 1.4 and 1.9 mm orbetween 1.5 and 1.8 mm or even between 1.6 and 1.7 mm;8) NUN 21267 MEM has a sparsely present rind net;9) NUN 21267 MEM has an average mature fruit length of about 19 cm e.g.between 17 and 21 cm or preferably between 18 and 20 cm or even between18.5 and 19.5 cm; and10) NUN 21267 MEM has an average fruit firmness of about 3.72 poundforce ([lb/in²]; 1 lb/in²=70.31 g/cm²) e.g. between 3 and 4.4 orpreferably between 3.3 and 4.0 or even between 3.6 and 3.8 pound force.

In still another aspect the invention provides a method of producing amelon plant, comprising crossing a plant of melon variety NUN 21267 MEMwith a second melon plant one or more times, and selecting progeny fromsaid crossing.

In yet another aspect the invention provides a method of producing amelon plant, comprising selfing a plant of melon variety NUN 21267 MEMone or more times, and selecting progeny from said selfing.

In other aspects, the invention provides for progeny of variety NUN21267 MEM such as progeny obtained by further breeding NUN 21267 MEM.Further breeding NUN 21267 MEM includes selfing NUN 21267 MEM one ormore times and/or cross-pollinating NUN 21267 MEM with another melonplant or variety one or more times. In particular, the inventionprovides for progeny that retain all the essential morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM or that retain one ormore (e.g. 1) to 5) or 1) to 10) or all) of the distinguishingcharacteristics of the melon type described further above, or, inanother embodiment, progeny that retain all morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM as listed in Table 1;when grown under the same environmental conditions, when determined atthe 5% significance level. In another aspect, the invention provides forvegetative reproductions of the variety and plants having all but 1, 2,or 3 of the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 21267MEM (e.g. as listed in Table 1).

The morphological and/or physiological differences between plantsaccording to the invention, i.e. NUN 21267 MEM or progeny thereof, orplants having all but 1, 2, or 3 of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of NUN 21267 MEM (as listed in Table 1); and other knownvarieties can easily be established by growing NUN 21267 MEM next to theother varieties (in the same field, under the same environmentalconditions), preferably in several locations which are suitable for saidmelon cultivation, and measuring morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics of a number of plants (e.g., to calculate an averagevalue and to determine the variation range/uniformity within thevariety). For example, trials can be carried out in Acampo CA, USA (N 38degrees 07′261″/W 121 degrees 18′ 807″, USA, whereby maturity, ploidy,plant sex form, leaf shape, leaf color, stem shape, surface and length,flower size and color, fruit group, mature fruit color, fruit size,fruit shape, rind texture and thickness, flesh texture and color,disease resistance, insect resistance, can be measured and directlycompared for species of Cucumis melo.

The morphological and physiological characteristics (and distinguishingcharacteristics) of NUN 21267 MEM, are provided in the Examples, inTable 1. Encompassed herein are also plants derivable from NUN 21267 MEM(e.g. by selfings and/or crossing and/or backcrossing with NUN 21267 MEMand/or progeny thereof) comprising all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM listed in Table 1 asdetermined at the 5% significance level for numerical characteristics oridentical for non-numerical characteristics when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions and/or comprising one or more (or all; or allexcept one, two or three) of the distinguishing characteristics asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions.

Also at-harvest and/or post-harvest characteristics of fruits can becompared, such as cold storage holding quality, post-harvest rindfirmness and/or flesh firmness can be measured using known methods.

Flesh firmness can for example be measured using a penetrometer, e.g. byinserting a probe into the fruit flesh and determining the insertionforce, or by other methods. Fruit flesh firmness can for example bemeasured using a “FT 327 Penetrometer”, available from QA Supplies LLC,1185 Pineridge Road, Norfolk, Va. 23502. For melons, it is preferablycombined with a 8 mm round tip, also available from QA Supplies under #2006061-8.

The morphological and/or physiological characteristics may vary somewhatwith variation in the environment (such as temperature, light intensity,day length, humidity, soil, fertilizer use), which is why a comparisonunder the same environmental conditions is preferred. Colors can best bemeasured against The Munsell Book of Color (Munsell Color MacbethDivision of Kollmorgan Instruments Corporation) or using the RoyalHorticultural Society Chart (World wide web atrhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/RHS-colour-charts).

In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides for melon fruits ofvariety NUN 21267 MEM, or a part of the fruit. In another embodiment,the invention provides for a container comprising or consisting of aplurality of harvested melon fruits of NUN 21267 MEM, or progenythereof, or a derived variety.

In yet a further embodiment, the invention provides for a method ofproducing a new melon plant. The method comprises crossing a plant ofthe invention NUN 21267 MEM, or a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 ofthe morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM (aslisted in Table 1), or a progeny plant thereof, either as male or asfemale parent, with a second melon plant (or a wild relative of melon)one or more times, and/or selfing a melon plant according to theinvention i.e. NUN 21267 MEM, or a progeny plant thereof, one or moretimes, and selecting progeny from said crossing and/or selfing. Thesecond melon plant may for example be a line or variety of the speciesCucumis melo, or other Cucumis species or even other Cucurbitaceaspecies.

Progeny are a later generation (of seeds) produced from the first crossof the F1 hybrid with another plant (F2) or with itself (S2), or anyfurther generation produced by crossing and/or selfing (F3, F4, etc.)and/or backcrossing (BC2, BC3, etc.) one or more selected plants of theF2 and/or S2 and/or BC2 generation (or plants of any further generation,e.g. the F3) with another melon plant (and/or with a wild relative ofmelon). Progeny may have all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of melon variety NUN 21267 MEM when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions and/or progeny may have (be selected forhaving) one or more of the distinguishing characteristics of melon ofthe invention. Using common breeding methods such as backcrossing orrecurrent selection, one or more specific characteristics may beintroduced into NUN 21267 MEM, to provide or a plant comprising all but1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 21267 MEM (as listed in Table 1).

The invention provides for methods of producing plants which retain allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM.The invention provides also for methods of producing a plant comprisingall but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 21267 MEM (e.g. as listed in Table 1), but whichare still genetically closely related to NUN 21267 MEM. The relatednesscan, for example be determined by fingerprinting techniques (e.g.,making use of isozyme markers and/or molecular markers such as SNPmarkers, AFLP markers, microsatellites, minisatellites, RAPD markers,RFLP markers and others). A plant is “closely related” to NUN 21267 MEMif its DNA fingerprint is at least 80%, 90%, 95% or 98% identical to thefingerprint of NUN 21267 MEM. In a preferred embodiment AFLP markers areused for DNA fingerprinting (Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23:4407-4414). A closely related plant may have a Jaccard's Similarityindex of at least about 0.8, preferably at least about 0.9, 0.95, 0.98or more (Parvathaneni et al., J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2011 (March) 14 (1):39˜43). The invention also provides plants and varieties obtained bythese methods. Plants may be produced by crossing and/or selfing, oralternatively, a plant may simply be identified and selected amongst NUN21267 MEM plants, or progeny thereof, e.g. by identifying a variantwithin NUN 21267 MEM or progeny thereof (e.g. produced by selfing) whichvariant differs from NUN 21267 MEM in one, two or three of themorphological and/or physiological characteristics (e.g. in one, two orthree distinguishing characteristics), e.g. those listed in Table 1 orothers. In one embodiment the invention provides a melon plant having aJaccard's Similarity index with NUN 21267 MEM of at least 0.8, e.g. atleast 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 0.98 or even at least 0.99.

By crossing and/or selfing also (one or more) single traits may beintroduced into the variety of the invention i.e. NUN 21267 MEM (e.g.,using backcrossing breeding schemes), while retaining the remainingmorphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM and/orwhile retaining one or more distinguishing characteristics. A singletrait converted plant may thereby be produced. For example, diseaseresistance genes may be introduced, genes responsible for one or morequality traits, yield, etc. Both single genes (dominant or recessive)and one or more QTLs (quantitative trait loci) may be transferred intoNUN 21267 MEM by breeding with NUN 21267 MEM.

Any pest or disease resistance genes may be introduced into a plantaccording to the invention, i.e. NUN 21267 MEM, progeny thereof or intoa plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM (e.g. as listed in Table1). Resistance to one or more of the following diseases or pests ispreferably introduced into plants of the invention: Bacterial Wilt, RootRot, Crown Blight, Melon Rust, Powdery Mildew, Verticillum Wilt, SulphurBurn, Scab, Watermelon Mosaic, Downy Mildew, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.melonis (Fom) race 0, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (Fom) race 1,Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (Fom) race 2, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.melonis (Fom) race 1-2, Fusarium Wilt R2, Anthracnose, Cucumber Mosaic,Squash Mosaic, Root Knot (Nematode), Aphid, Pickle Worm, Darkling GroundBeetle, Banded Cucumber Beetle, Mite, Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle,Melon Leafhopper, Melon Worm, Western Striped Cucumber Beetle and MelonLeafminer. Other resistance genes, against pathogenic viruses, fungi,bacteria, nematodes, insects or other pests may also be introduced.

Thus, invention also provides a method for developing a melon plant in amelon breeding program, using a melon plant of the invention, or itsparts as a source of plant breeding material. Suitable plant breedingtechniques are recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding,mass selection, mutation breeding and/or genetic marker enhancedselection. For example, in one aspect, the method comprises crossing NUN21267 MEM or progeny thereof, or a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3or more of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN21267 MEM (e.g. as listed in Table 1), with a different melon plant, andwherein one or more offspring of the crossing are subject to one or moreplant breeding techniques selected from the group consisting ofrecurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding, mass selection,mutation breeding and genetic marker enhanced selection (see e.g.Brotman et al., Theor Appl Genet (2002) 104:1055-1063). For breedingmethods in general see Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2007,George Acquaah, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4.

The invention thus also provides a method of introducing a single locusconversion, or single trait conversion or introducing a desired trait,into a melon plant according to the invention and/or into NUN 21267 MEMcomprising:

(a) crossing a melon plant of variety NUN 21267 MEM, a representativesample of seed of said variety having been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB ______, with a second melon plant comprising a desiredsingle locus to produce Fl progeny plants;(b) selecting F1 progeny plants that have the single locus;(c) crossing the selected progeny plants with a plant of NUN 21267 MEM,to produce backcross progeny plants;(d) selecting backcross progeny plants that have the single locus andone or more (or all) distinguishing characteristics of melon accordingto the invention and/or all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of NUN 21267 MEM to produce selected backcross progenyplants; and(e) optionally repeating steps (c) and (d) one or more times insuccession to produce selected second, third or fourth or higherbackcross progeny plants that comprise the single locus and otherwiseone or more (or all) the distinguishing characteristics of the melonsaccording to the invention and/or comprise all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM, when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions. The invention further relates to plantsobtained by this method.

The above method is provided, wherein the single locus confers a trait,wherein the trait is pest resistance or disease resistance.

In one embodiment the trait is disease resistance and the resistance isconferred to Bacterial Wilt, Root Rot, Crown Blight, Melon Rust, PowderyMildew, Verticillum Wilt, Sulphur Burn, Scab, Watermelon Mosaic, DownyMildew, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (Fom) race 0, Fusariumoxysporum f.sp. melonis (Fom) race 1, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis(Fom) race 2, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (Fom) race 1-2, FusariumWilt R2, Anthracnose, Cucumber Mosaic, Squash Mosaic, Root Knot(Nematode), Aphid, Pickle Worm, Darkling Ground Beetle, Banded CucumberBeetle, Mite, Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Melon Leafhopper, MelonWorm, Western Striped Cucumber Beetle or Melon Leafminer.

The invention also provides a melon plant comprising at least a firstset of the chromosomes of melon variety NUN 21267 MEM, a sample of seedof said variety having been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB______; optionally further comprising a single locus conversion, whereinsaid plant has essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the plant comprising at least a first set of thechromosomes of melon NUN 21267 MEM. In another embodiment, this singlelocus conversion confers a trait selected from the group consisting ofmale sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance,disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance, modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.

In one embodiment, NUN 21267 MEM may also be mutated (by e.g.irradiation, chemical mutagenesis, heat treatment, etc.) and mutatedseeds or plants may be selected in order to change one or morecharacteristics of NUN 21267 MEM. Methods such as TILLING may be appliedto melon populations in order to identify mutants. Similarly, NUN 21267MEM may be transformed and regenerated, whereby one or more chimericgenes are introduced into the variety or into a plant comprising all but1, 2, 3, or more of the morphological and physiological characteristics(e.g. as listed in Table 1). Transformation can be carried out usingstandard methods, such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediatedtransformation or biolistics, followed by selection of the transformedcells and regeneration into plants. A desired trait (e.g. genesconferring pest or disease resistance, herbicide, fungicide orinsecticide tolerance, etc.) can be introduced into NUN 21267 MEM, orprogeny thereof, by transforming NUN 21267 MEM or progeny thereof with atransgene that confers the desired trait, wherein the transformed plantretains all the phenotypic and/or morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 21267 MEM or the progeny thereof and contains thedesired trait.

The invention also provides for progeny of hybrid (F1) variety NUN 21267MEM obtained by further breeding with NUN 21267 MEM. In one aspectprogeny are F2 progeny obtained by crossing NUN 21267 MEM with anotherplant or S2 progeny obtained by selfing NUN 21267 MEM. Also encompassedare F3 progeny obtained by selfing the F2 plants. “Further breeding”encompasses traditional breeding (e.g., selfing, crossing,backcrossing), marker assisted breeding, and/or mutation breeding. Inone embodiment, the progeny have one or more (or all) of thedistinguishing characteristics mentioned further above when grown underthe same environmental conditions. In a further embodiment the progenyhave all the physiological and morphological characteristics of varietyNUN 21267 MEM when grown under the same environmental conditions. Inanother embodiment the progeny have one, two, or three distinct traits(qualitative or quantitative) introduced into NUN 21267 MEM, whileretaining all the other physiological and morphological characteristicsof variety NUN 21267 MEM when grown under the same environmentalconditions.

The invention also provides a plant having one, two or threephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of NUN 21267 MEM and which otherwise has all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM,wherein a representative sample of seed of variety NUN 21267 MEM hasbeen deposited under Accession Number NCIMB ______. In particular plantswhich differ from NUN 21267 MEM in none, one, two or three of thecharacteristics mentioned in Table 1 are encompassed.

In one aspect, the plant having one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN21267 MEM and which otherwise has all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM differs from NUN 21267MEM in one, two or three of the distinguishing morphological and/orphysiological characteristics selected from 1) average mature fruitdiameter; 2) average mature fruit weight; 3) average number of days tomaturity from seeding to harvest; 4) average mature fruit refractometer% soluble solids (center of flesh); 5) average number of seeds permature fruit; 6) average weight per 1000 seeds; 7) rind thickness atmedial; 8) presence of rind net; 9) average mature fruit length and 10)average fruit firmness.

In another embodiment the plant having one, two or three physiologicaland/or morphological characteristics which are different from those ofNUN 21267 MEM and which otherwise has all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM differs from NUN 21267MEM in one, two or three morphological or physiological characteristicother than the “distinguishing morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics” (or essential physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics) of NUN 21267 MEM selected from: 1) average mature fruitdiameter; 2) average mature fruit weight; 3) average number of days tomaturity from seeding to harvest; 4) average mature fruit refractometer% soluble solids (center of flesh); 5) average number of seeds permature fruit; 6) average weight per 1000 seeds; 7) rind thickness atmedial; 8) presence of rind net; 9) average mature fruit length and 10)average fruit firmness.

Melons according to the invention, such as the variety NUN 21267 MEM, orits progeny, or a plant having all physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics but one, two or three which are different from those ofNUN 21267 MEM, can also be reproduced using vegetative reproductionmethods. Therefore, the invention provides for a method of producingplants, or a part thereof, of variety NUN 21267 MEM, comprisingvegetative propagation of variety NUN 21267 MEM. Vegetative propagationcomprises regenerating a whole plant from a plant part of variety NUN21267 MEM (or from its progeny or from or a plant having allphysiological and/or morphological characteristics but one, two orthree, which are different from those of NUN 21267 MEM), such as acutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture.

The invention also concerns methods of vegetatively propagating a plantof the invention. In certain embodiments, the method comprises the stepsof: (a) collecting tissue or cells capable of being propagated from aplant of the invention; (b) cultivating said tissue or cells to obtainproliferated shoots; and (c) rooting said proliferated shoots, to obtainrooted plantlets. Steps (b) and (c) may also be reversed, i.e. firstcultivating said tissue to obtain roots and then cultivating the tissueto obtain shoots, thereby obtaining rooted plantlets. The rootedplantlets may then be further grown, to obtain plants. In oneembodiment, the method further comprises step (d) growing plants fromsaid rooted plantlets

The invention also provides for a vegetatively propagated plant ofvariety NUN 21267 MEM (or from its progeny or from or a plant having allbut one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristicswhich are different from those of NUN 21267 MEM, or a part thereof,having one or more distinguishing characteristics and/or all themorphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM (exceptfor the characteristics differing), when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions.

Parts of NUN 21267 MEM (or of its progeny or of a plant having allphysiological and/or morphological characteristics but one, two or threewhich are different from those of NUN 21267 MEM) encompass any cells,tissues, organs obtainable from the seedlings or plants, such as but notlimited to: melon fruits or parts thereof, cuttings, hypocotyl,cotyledon, pollen, scion and the like. Such parts can be stored and/orprocessed further. Encompassed are therefore also food or feed productscomprising one or more of such parts, such as canned, chopped, cooked,roasted, preserved, frozen, dried, pickled, or juiced melon fruit fromNUN 21267 MEM or from progeny thereof, or from a derived variety, suchas a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN21267 MEM.

In one aspect haploid plants and/or double haploid plants of NUN 21267MEM, or a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN21267 MEM, or progeny of any of these, are encompassed herein. Haploidand double haploid (DH) plants can, for example, be produced by cell ortissue culture and chromosome doubling agents and regeneration into awhole plant. For DH production chromosome doubling may be induced usingknown methods, such as colchicine treatment or the like.

Also provided are plant parts derived from variety NUN 21267 MEM (orfrom its progeny or from a plant having all but one, two or threephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of NUN 21267 MEM), or from a vegetatively propagated plant ofNUN 21267 MEM (or from its progeny or from a plant having all but one,two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics whichare different from those of NUN 21267 MEM), being selected from thegroup consisting of: harvested fruits or parts thereof, pollen, cells,leaves or parts thereof, petioles, cotyledons, hypocotyls, shoots orparts thereof, stems or parts thereof, or vines or parts thereof, rootsor parts thereof, cuttings, or flowers.

In one embodiment, the invention provides for extracts of a plantdescribed herein and compositions comprising or consisting of suchextracts. In a preferred embodiment, the extract consists of orcomprises tissue of a plant described herein or is obtained from suchtissue.

In still yet another aspect, the invention provides a method ofdetermining the genotype of a plant of the invention comprisingdetecting in the genome (e.g., a sample of nucleic acids) of the plantat least a first polymorphism. The method may, in certain embodiments,comprise detecting a plurality of polymorphisms in the genome of theplant, for example by obtaining a sample of nucleic acid from a plantand detecting in said nucleic acids a plurality of polymorphisms. Themethod may further comprise storing the results of the step of detectingthe plurality of polymorphisms on a computer readable medium

The invention also provides for a food or feed product comprising orconsisting of a plant part described herein wherein the plant part canbe identified as a part of the plant of the invention. Preferably, theplant part is a melon fruit or part thereof and/or an extract from afruit or another plant part described herein. The food or feed productmay be fresh or processed, e.g., dried, grinded, powdered, pickled,chopped, cooked, juiced, preserved, pickled, or powdered canned,steamed, boiled, blanched and/or frozen, etc.

For example, containers such as cans, boxes, crates, bags, cartons,Modified Atmosphere Packagings, films (e.g. biodegradable films), etc.comprising plant parts of plants (fresh and/or processed) describedherein are also provided herein.

Marketable melon fruits are generally sorted by size and quality afterharvest. Alternatively the melon fruits can be sorted by Brix or sugarcontent.

Melons may also be grown for use in grafting or inosculation asrootstocks (stocks) or scions (scions). Typically, different types ofmelons are grafted to enhance disease resistance, which is usuallyconferred by the rootstock, while retaining the horticultural qualitiesusually conferred by the scion. It is not uncommon for grafting to occurbetween cultivated melon varieties and related Cucurbitae species.Methods of grafting and vegetative propagation are well-known in theart.

So in one aspect the invention relates to a plant comprising a rootstockor scion of NUN 21267 MEM.

Using methods known in the art like “reverse breeding”, it is possibleto produce parental lines for a hybrid plant such as NUN 21267 MEM;where normally the hybrid is produced from the parental lines. Suchmethods are based on the segregation of individual alleles in the sporesproduced by a desired plant and/or in the progeny derived from theself-pollination of that desired plant, and on the subsequentidentification of suitable progeny plants in one generation, or in alimited number of inbred cycles. Such a method is known fromWO2014076249 or from Wijnker et al, Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages:761-772 (2014) DOI: doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049, which are enclosed byreference. Such method for producing parental lines for a hybridorganism, comprises the steps of: a) defining a set of genetic markersthat are present in a heterozygous form (H) in a partially heterozygousstarting organism; b) producing doubled haploid lines from spores of thestarting organism: c) genetically characterizing the doubled haploidlines thus obtained for the said set of genetic markers to determinewhether they are present in a first homozygous form (A) or in a secondhomozygous form (B); d) selecting at least one pair of doubled haploidlines that have complementary alleles for at least a subset of thegenetic markers, wherein each member of the pair is suitable as aparental line for a hybrid organism.

Thus in one aspect, the invention relates to a method of producing acombination of parental lines of a plant of the invention (NUN 21267MEM) comprising the step of making double haploid cells from haploidcells from the plant of the invention (NUN 21267 MEM) or a seed of thatplant; and optionally crossing these parental lines to produce andcollect seeds. In another aspect, the invention relates to a combinationof parental lines produced by this method. In still another aspect saidcombination of parental lines can be used to produce a seed or plant ofNUN 21267 MEM when these parental lines are crossed. In still anotheraspect, the invention relates to a combination of parental lines fromwhich a seed or plant having all but one, two or three physiologicaland/or morphological characteristics of NUN 21267 MEM can be produced;or in another aspect, wherein a seed or plant having the distinguishingcharacteristics 1) −5) or 1) −10) of NUN 21267 MEM, as herein defined,can be produced when grown under the same environmental conditions. Instill another aspect, the invention relates to a combination of parentallines from which a seed or plant having all the characteristics of NUN21267 MEM as defined in Table 1 can be produced when grown under thesame conditions.

All documents (e.g., patent publications) are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety.

CITED REFERENCES

-   ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3003780-   http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/RHS-colour-charts-   http://www.upov.int/edocs/tgdocs/en/tg076.pdf-   Acquaah, Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2007, Blackwell    Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4-   Brotman et al., Theor Appl Genet (2002) 104:1055-1063 DOI    10.1007/s00122-001-0808-x-   Colijn-Hooymans (1994), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 39:    211-217)-   Ren et al., In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol.-Plant (2013) 49:223-229 DOI    10.1007/s11627-012-9482-8;-   Parvathaneni et al., J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2011 (March) 14 (1):    39˜43 DOI No. 10.1007/s12892-010-0080-1-   Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23: 4407-4414-   Wijnker et al, Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages: 761-772 (2014)    DOI:-   doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049-   US 2006/0168701-   WO2014076249

EXAMPLES Development of NUN 21267 MEM

The hybrid NUN 21267 MEM was developed from a male and femaleproprietary inbred line of Nunhems. The female and male parents werecrossed to produce hybrid (F1) seeds of NUN 21267 MEM. The seeds of NUN21267 MEM can be grown to produce hybrid plants and parts thereof (e.g.melon fruit). The hybrid NUN 21267 MEM can be propagated by seeds orvegetative.

The hybrid variety is uniform and genetically stable. This has beenestablished through evaluation of horticultural characteristics. Severalhybrid seed production events resulted in no observable deviation ingenetic stability. Coupled with the confirmation of genetic stability ofthe female and male parents the Applicant concluded that NUN 21267 MEMis uniform and stable.

Deposit Information

A total of 2500 seeds of the hybrid variety NUN 21267 MEM were depositedaccording to the Budapest Treaty by Nunhems B.V. on ______, at or at theNCIMB Ltd., Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn, AberdeenAB21 9YA, United Kingdom (NCIMB). The deposit has been assigned or NCIMB______. A deposit of NUN 21267 MEM and of the male and female parentline is also maintained at Nunhems B.V. Access to the deposit will beavailable during the pendency of this application to persons determinedby the Director of the U.S. Patent Office to be entitled thereto uponrequest. Subject to 37 C.F.R. §1.808(b), all restrictions imposed by thedepositor on the availability to the public of the deposited materialwill be irrevocably removed upon the granting of the patent. The depositwill be maintained for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the mostrecent request, or for the enforceable life of the patent whichever islonger, and will be replaced if it ever becomes nonviable during thatperiod. Applicant does not waive any rights granted under this patent onthis application or under the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 USC 2321et seq.).

“USDA descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors for melon (Cucumismelo)—Exhibit C of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, AgriculturalMarketing Service, Science and Technology, Plant Variety ProtectionOffice, Beltsville, Md. 20705, which can be downloaded from the worldwide web at ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3003780 andwhich is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The most similar variety to NUN 21267 MEM is Santa Fe, a commercialvariety from Seminis. In Table 1 a comparison between NUN 21267 MEM andSanta Fe is shown based on a trial in the USA. Trial location: AcampoCalifornia USA, (coordinates: 38.192873°N, −121.232637°W). Sowing date:Jun. 12, 2014, transplanting date Jul. 10, 2014, harvesting date for NUN21267 was Sep. 28, 2014.

Two replications of 50 plants each, from which 15 plants or plant partswere randomly selected to measure characteristics. In Table 1 the USDAdescriptors of NUN 21267 MEM (this application) and reference Santa Fe(commercial variety) are summarized.

TABLE 1 Application Variety Comparison Variety USDA Descriptor NUN 21267MEM Santa Fe 1. TYPE: 2 2 1 = Persian 2 = Honey Dew 3 = Casaba 4 =Crenshaw 5 = Common/Summer 6 = Other 2. AREA OF BEST ADAPTATION INU.S.A.: 4 4 1 = Southeast 2 = Northeast/North Central 3 = Southwest 4 =Most Areas 3. MATURITY: 88 65-70 Days From Seeding to Harvest 4. PLANT:Fertility: 1 1 1 = Andromonoecious 2 = Monoecious 3 = Gynoecious 4 =Other Habit: 1 1 1 = Vine 2 = Semi-bush 3 = Bush 5. LEAF: (Mature Bladeof Third Leaf) Shape: 3 3 1 = Orbicular 2 = Ovate 3 = Reniform (Cordate)Lobes: 2 2 1 = Not Lobed 2 = Shallowly Lobed 3 = Deeply Lobed Color: 1 11 = Light Green (Honey Dew) 2 = Medium Green 3 = Dark Green (Rio Gold)Color Chart Name RHS RHS Color Chart Code Green N137A Green 137B AverageLength mm n.r. 164.8 Average Width mm n.r. 178.7 Surface: 3 3 1 =Pubescent 2 = Glabrous 3 = Scabrous 6. FRUIT: (at Edible Maturity):Average Length in cm 19 18 Average Diameter in cm 15.9 14.4 AverageWeight in gram 2873 1981.5 Shape: 2 2 1 = Oblate 2 = Oval 3 = Round 4 =Elongate-Cylindrical 5 = Spindle 6 = Acorn Surface: 1 + 2 1 1 = Smooth 2= Netted 3 = Corrugated 4 = Warted Blossom Scar: 1 1 1 = Obscure 2 =Conspicuous Blossom diameter mm 20.3 17.3 Rib Presence: 1 1 1 = Absent 2= Present No. Ribs per Fruit NA NA Rib Width at Medial in mm NA NA RibsSurface: 1 = Smooth 2 = Netted NA NA Suture Depth: NA NA 1 = Shallow(Golden Delight) 2 = Medium 3 = Deep (Hackensack) Suture Surface: NA NA1 = Smooth 2 = Netted Shipping Quality: 2 n.r. 1 = Poor (Home Garden) 2= Fair (Short Distance Shipping) 3 = Excellent (Long Distance Shipping)Fruit Abscission: 3 3 1 = When Ripe 2 = When Overripe 3 = Do Not Abscise7. RIND NET: Net Presence: 2 1 1 = Absent 2 = Sparse 3 = AbundantDistribution: 1 NA 1 = Spotty 2 = Covers Entire Fruit Coarseness: 1 NA 1= Fine 2 = Medium Coarse 3 = Very Coarse Interlacing: 1 = None 2 = Some3 = 1 NA Complete Interstices: 1 = Shallow 2 = Medium Deep 1 NA 3 = Deep8. RIND TEXTURE: Texture: 1 = Soft 2 = Firm 3 = Hard 2 2 AverageThickness at Medial in mm 1.65 1.11 9. RIND COLOR: 01 = White 02 = Cream03 = Buff 04 = Yellow 05 = Color Chart Name RHS Gold 06 = Green 07 =Orange 08 = Bronze 09 = Brown 10 = Gray 11 = Black 12 = Other (Specify)Rind Color At Edible Maturity Primary Color/ 02 06/01 Color Chart Value10D (Yellow Green) Green White 157B Mottling Color/ N.A. N.A. ColorChart Value Net Color/ 03 N.A. Color Chart Value 161 (Greyed Yellow)Furrow (Suture)/ N.A. N.A. Color Chart Value Rind Color At Full MaturityPrimary Color/ 04 04 Color Chart Value 7A (Yellow Green) Yellow 7AMottling Color/ N.A. NA Color Chart Value Net Color/ 03 NA Color ChartValue 161C (Greyed Yellow) Furrow (Suture)/ N.A. NA Color Chart Value10. FLESH (At Edible Maturity): 01 = White 02 = Cream 03 = Yellow 04 =Green 05 = Color Chart Name RHS Orange 06 = Salmon 07 = Pink 08 = Other(Specify) Color Near Cavity/ 01 01/04 Color Chart Value 155A (White)NN155A (White green) Color in Center/ 04 01/04 Color Chart Value N144D(Yellow Green) 143C (Green) Color Near Rind/ 03 03 Color Chart Value160B (Greyed Yellow) 160B (Greyed Yellow) Refractometer % SoluableSolids 13.4 6.1 (Center of Flesh) Aroma: 1 = Absent 2 = Faint 3 = Strong2 2 Flavor: 1 = Mild 2 = Somewhat Spicy 3 = 2 2 Very Spicy 11. SEEDCAVITY: Average Length in mm 121.7 116.6 Average Width in mm 65.3 67.3Shape in X-Section: 2 2 1 = Circular 2 = Triangular 12. SEEDS: AverageNo. Seeds per Fruit 700 761 Average grams per 1,000 Seeds 39 30 Theseare typical values. Values may vary due to environment. Other valuesthat are substantially equivalent are also within the scope of theinvention. N.A. = not applicable; n.r. = not recorded.

In one embodiment, the blossom scar of NUN 21267 MEM is 20.3 mm indiameter, whereas the blossom scar of Santa Fe is 17.3 mm in diameter.In still another embodiment, the average flesh firmness of NUN 21267 MEMis 3.72 pound force, whereas the average flesh firmness of Santa Fe is6.22 pound force (measured by FT 327 Penetrometer using a 8 mm roundtip).

1. A plant, plant part or seed of melon variety NUN 21267 MEM, wherein arepresentative sample of said seed has been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB ______.
 2. A plant or part thereof grown from the seed ofclaim
 1. 3. The plant part of claim 2, further defined as a leaf,pollen, stem, an ovule, a fruit, a scion, a rootstock, cutting, floweror a part of any of these or a cell.
 4. A Cucumis melo plant, or a partthereof which does not significantly differ from the plant of claim 2 inany of the distinguishing characteristics selected from the groupconsisting of 1) an average mature fruit diameter of about 16 cm; 2) anaverage mature fruit weight of about 2873 g; 3) an average number ofdays to maturity from seeding to harvest of about 88 days; 4) an averagemature fruit refractometer % soluble solids (center of flesh) of about13.4; 5) an average number of about 700 seeds per mature fruit; 6) anaverage weight per 1000 seeds of 39 g; 7) an average rind thickness atmedial of about 1.65 mm.; 8) a sparse presence of rind net; 9) anaverage mature fruit length of about 19 cm; and 10) an average fruitfirmness of about 3.7 pound force.
 5. A melon plant, or a part thereofwhich does not significantly differ from the plant of claim
 2. 6. Atissue or cell culture of regenerable cells of the plant of claim
 2. 7.The tissue or cell culture according to claim 6, comprising cells orprotoplasts from a plant part selected from the group consisting ofembryos, meristems, cotyledons, hypocotyl, pollen, leaves, anthers,roots, root tips, pistil, petiole, flower, fruit, seed, stem and stalks.8. A melon plant regenerated from the tissue or cell culture of claim 6,wherein the plant has all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of the plant of claim 2 as listed in Table 1, wherenumerical values are determined at the 5% significance level.
 9. Amethod of producing of the plant of claim 2, or a part thereof,comprising vegetative propagation of the plant of claim
 2. 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein said vegetative propagation comprisesregenerating a whole plant from a part of the plant of claim
 2. 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein said part is a cutting, a cell culture or atissue culture.
 12. A vegetative propagated plant of claim 2, or a partthereof, wherein the plant has all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the plant of claim 2 when determined atthe 5% significance level.
 13. A method of producing a melon plant,comprising crossing the plant of claim 2 with a second melon plant oneor more times.
 14. The method of claim 13 further comprising a step ofselecting progeny from said crossing.
 15. The method of claim 14 furthercomprising a step of allowing the progeny to form seed.
 16. Progeny ofthe plant of claim 2 obtained by further breeding with said variety. 17.The progeny of claim 16, wherein said progeny have all thedistinguishing characteristics 1) to 5) or 1) to 10) of the melon plantof claim 2 when grown under the same environmental conditions, whereinthe distinguishing characteristics are defined as 1) an average maturefruit diameter of about 16 cm, e.g. 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 cm; 2) anaverage mature fruit weight of about 2873 g e.g. 2850, 2860, 2870, 2880or 2890 gram; 3) an average maturity from seeding to harvest of about 88days e.g. 86, 87, 88, 89 or 90 days from seeding; 4) an average maturefruit refractometer % soluble solids (center of flesh) of about 13.4e.g. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16; 5) an average number of about 700 seedsper mature fruit e.g. about 670, 680, 690, 700, 710, 720, or 730 seeds;6) an average weight per 1000 seeds of 39 g, e.g. 37, 38, 39, 40 or 41gram; 7) an average rind thickness at medial of about 1.65 mm. e.g.1.50, 1.60, 1.65, 1.70 or 1.80 mm; 8) sparse presence of rind net; 9) anaverage mature fruit length of about 19 cm, e.g. 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21cm; and 10) an average fruit firmness of about 3.7 pound force, e.g.3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0 or 4.1 pound force.
 18. A melonplant having one, two or three physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics which are different from those of the plant of claim 2and which otherwise has all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of the plant of claim 2 as listed in Table 1, whendetermined at the 5% significance level.
 19. A food or feed productcomprising the plant part of claim 3 wherein the plant part can beidentified as a part of the plant of the invention.
 20. A melon plantcomprising at least a first set of the chromosomes of the plant of claim2.
 21. The plant of claim 2 further comprising a single locusconversion, wherein said plant has all or all but one, two or three ofthe morphological and physiological characteristics of the plant ofclaim 2, optionally wherein the single locus conversion confers a traitselected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicidetolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance,environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism andmodified protein metabolism.
 22. A plant comprising the scion orrootstock of claim
 3. 23. A method of producing a combination ofparental lines of the plant of claim 2 comprising the step of makingdouble haploid cells from haploid cells from the plant of claim 2 or aseed of claim
 1. 24. A combination of parental lines produced by themethod of claim 23.